If Pete Alonso had his way, “hockey-style” fights would be allowed in baseball.
The New York Mets first baseman made the eye-opening comment ahead of Tuesday’s All-Star game when he was asked what’s one rule he would change about baseball.
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“If there’s one rule I could change, I don’t think people should get ejected after charging the mound or fighting,” Alonso said. “So I think it should be hockey style. No teams, no nothing, because that’s when people can like seriously get hurt.
“If you go out and charge the mound, then you should be able to, but if the pitcher or hitter or whoever charges, if they don’t want to fight, they take a knee and then they don’t have to fight. But if someone charges the mound, it’s one v. one, hockey style, and then that’s it.”
Alonso added that if fisticuffs ensue, the loser would have to leave the game while the winner gets to stay.
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There are numerous reasons why this will never happen. For one, it’s unethical. Second, how would MLB regulate suspensions when fights occur? Third, the outrage that would ensue if someone got seriously hurt or suffered a concussion is a nightmare the league would never want to deal with.
During the NHL season, fights are a near nightly occurrence, while they happen once in a blue moon in baseball. While fighting has been encouraged in hockey, several NHL players have developed ALS following their playing careers due to multiple blows to the head.
Alonso has had his own run-ins, including getting tackled by St. Louis Cardinals first base coach Stubby Clapp during a benches-clearing brawl in 2022.
There’s a better chance the Colorado Rockies face the Chicago White Sox in the World Series this year than Alonso’s proposed rule ever seeing the light of day.
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